A battery management system can include one or more integrated circuit devices that manage a rechargeable battery (e.g., a cell or battery pack) by monitoring its state. Some battery management systems monitor rechargeable battery packs. An integrated circuit in the battery pack monitors the battery and reports information to a system management bus. This information can include but is not limited to: battery type, model number, manufacturer, characteristics, discharge rate, predicted remaining capacity and any other information that can be used to determine the state of the battery.
Some applications monitor the State of Charge (SOC) of the battery or of the individual cells in a battery chain. This may simply be for providing the user with an indication of the capacity left in the battery, or it could be needed in a control circuit to ensure optimum control of the charging process. The State of Health (SOH) is a measure of a battery's capability to deliver its specified output. This can be vital for assessing the readiness of emergency power equipment and can be an indicator of whether maintenance action is needed.